Central controllers of networks in the sense of the description essentially concern all industrial systems in all conceivable fields of mechanical and plant engineering. In particular they encompass controllers of networks in manufacturing and production installations as well as in installations of special-purpose mechanical engineering such as for example packing or filling installations, in particular for bottling beverages.
The following sections deal by way of example only with monitoring systems of filling installations as industrial systems, whereby the monitoring systems in particular comprise every type of sensor device for monitoring states and sequences in the system that is to be monitored. The present method and present device can of course also be used for all other types of controllers and their components in the said industrial systems.
Industrial systems, in particular filling installations, are in general grouped in so-called production lines, with each production line manufacturing one particular end product. This can be a bottle filled with a particular beverage and having a special label affixed to it, for example.
Moreover a number of such production lines which are operated in parallel with one another can also be provided within an industrial system.
Each production line usually comprises a plurality of stations, with each station executing one particular operation or a plurality of operations on the way to manufacturing the end product. These steps may for example involve the arranging, washing, conveying, filling, sealing or labelling of bottles.
Each station usually exhibits a plurality of components which interact to execute the particular operation of the machine. In particular, the components of each station are controlled and monitored by a local processing unit such as a server for example. Components specially provided for monitoring the correct performance of the steps of the stations include inter alia the described sensor devices which can be executed for example as cameras, motion sensors, light barriers or other input/output devices and which monitor, for example, filling levels of bottles, a correct positioning of labels or the correct sealing of the bottles. The local processing units of an entire production line are generally controlled and monitored by a central processing unit. A plurality of production lines can of course also be assigned to one central processing unit.
According to the prior art, the local processing units or servers of the individual stations are specifically adapted and configured for the work and monitoring steps carried out at the station concerned. The consequence of this is that if changes are made to the components of the station, e.g. the sensor devices mentioned above, or if changes are made to their triggering, an individual adaptation must be made in the software of the local server or of an associated controller. If for example parameters have to be modified, sequences re-programmed or a new additional sensor device integrated into the station to fulfil new tasks, then a customised modification must be made to the controller or to the particular server of each of the affected stations individually. If the changes have to be made to a plurality of stations, then each of the associated local servers must be modified individually.
If a component which is no longer used is to be removed, then this component would also have to be laboriously dismantled manually from the controller. This unused component is therefore usually left in the controller and continues to be operated. This means that for example a camera or a light barrier continues to be triggered, only its output being ignored. The component is also usually left within a user interface belonging to the controller and is displayed there, with the result that the operator interface can become increasingly cluttered with unused components.
In both cases, a flexible adaptation for the integration and removal of components, in particular of sensor devices, in the controller is not possible. The customised adaptation of the individual local stations or their servers is also always very time-consuming. In particular, this precludes a short-term and temporary flexible adaptation and integration of selected components in a controller as might be necessary for example in the case of a short-term change of product to be produced on the production line. Consequently there is a need to provide a method for the flexible integration of components in a controller and in particular to facilitate an automatic integration of these components into a central controller of a corresponding industrial system.